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Blizzcon review: Part three

August 25, 2009 — Veliaf

As previously mentioned, today is Worgen day, so without further ado, let’s get on with it.

Keeping to the same format as the Goblins, I’m going to look at the lore behind the newest Alliance race first. Now, I will admit I was a little disappointed to see that the Cataclysm Worgen were from Gilneas, and not original Worgen from their home world, because the lore would frankly have been much more interesting, not least because I really want to know who or what the Lords of the Emerald Flame are that they’re fighting.

However, the way Blizzard have gone with it does make more sense with regard to the Worgen joining the Alliance. To summarize the plot, Archmage Arugal’s werewolf curse spread past the Greymane Wall and infected the Gilneans, who sort of descended into civil war – the infected versus the uninfected. In the end though, all the citizens were affected, but not before they managed to create a potion which allows them to control their shapeshifting and presumable bloodlust. Now that Arthas has been defeated and the Cataclysm has torn the Wall apart, the Forsaken have decided to claim Lordaeron for their own, and are marching on Gilneas. The Gilneans, needing both a cure and protection from the undead, have joined back with the Alliance they gave up on after the Second War.

The Worgen have the ability to be all the classes except for Paladins and Shaman, which is to say, Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Death Knight, Mage, Warlock and Druid. The idea of Worgen Warlocks appeal to me a great deal more than Goblin ones, it has to be said – I reckon this is because Warlocks ought to be evil by nature really, and to be frank there aren’t many things more evil than a werewolf. The Worgen have also always had Warlocks and Mages in the game previously, but the Goblins tended to be Warrior archetypes. The Druid allowance also gives us our second Druid, which matches the Trolls. The race will begin in Gilneas (which looks perfect, by the way) and will more than likely progress into Silverpine Forest, which I’m guessing will include more Alliance quests post-Cataclysm.

Alright, racials. In many ways, these are the counterparts to the Goblin ones:

Well, could we ask for more? The transformation sequence looks fantastic, as you can see in the video below, and I know I’d roll a Worgen just to be able to shapeshift like this. I don’t know whether your form affects what you can and can’t do, although I heard somewhere that you need to be in Worgen form to fight, but I’m not sure. It might also affect mounting, once we discover what the Worgen mounts are.

Very much like a Rogue’s sprint, I can see this coming in very handy in PvP, or for escaping a mob. Goodness knows Warlocks in particular need a way out of melee situations, and this could give Worgen the edge. It also appears to transform you.

Viciousness, passive, increases all damage done by 1%.

A straight up damage increase which you can’t ignore. As I’ve said before, the other races are going to need buffing a lot to keep up.

Flayer, passive, skinning skill increased by 15 and allows you to skin faster.

You skin faster, and you can skin as if your Skinning was 15 levels higher, plain and simple.